Looking at today’s WSBK test times in Barcelona, Toprak Razgatlioglu is a name that stands out, but not everything went well for the new BMW rider, who crashed. In addition to the on-track action, where there were also other positive points, the former champion also made some comments about the support in the pit box.
The Turkish rider talked about the crash and how it happened and… remembered his old bike, from another manufacturer, as the championship’s official website quotes: ‘I had a small crash at turn 10, trying to “fix” the brake braking. The rear locked a bit, then released, the rear was sliding and then it came back and pushed me into the turn and then I fell. The crash was slow, but the bike was destroyed. I saw some parts! I went back out to try to correct the rear grip, but I’m still not 100%, especially here. On entry it’s all good, but on exit, with the throttle opening, it spins a lot. With Yamaha, I remember having better grip and with BMW we found a way and tomorrow we will work more and hopefully I will feel better. I have traction, no problem; just no grip’.
Continued to talk about some of the differences he sees inside the garage, mainly due to the proximity and support: ‘On the team side, it’s similar to Yamaha, but on the manufacturer side, I see a lot more people from the factory. At Yamaha, I never saw Japanese people. Only Italians and British. Here, there are many Germans because the project is very important to them. What I need, they do it immediately. I always say I need more braking in the engine and they create a new software just for me. What I need, BMW does it; it’s directly with the factory’.
Then, he completed his analysis of the day by looking at the plan for tomorrow: ‘I used the new swingarm; the plan is to use the old swingarm tomorrow to understand the grip, because it’s bad. With the Q tire, we will have more grip, but I still feel the tire spinning’.
